Nostalgia is in the air in pro wrestling, as WWE was proven by the fact that they recently decided to restart the Saturday Night Main Event. Back to a time when almost every major moment took place on one of the four big shows of the year (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series), a wealth of great in-ring action from WWE’s Golden Era has been forgotten. The Golden Age of wrestling has many underrated classics, with lesser-known Dream Matches and landmark moments that are often glossed over in favor of the company’s regular historical narrative.
Golden Age matches are more robust and less glossy than today’s audiences are conditioned to be. However, these fights show the quality that existed throughout that time. There is a natural focus on the strength of the Golden Era mid-card and Intercontinental Championship scene, but All of these matches have cultural relevance to today’s WWE in some way.
10
Honky Tonk Man vs. Macho Man Randy Savage (Saturday Night Main Event, October 3, 1987)
The match that formed the mega powers
Much is made of his historical importance, but Honky Tonk Man’s matches from his record-breaking Intercontinental Championship reign are rarely talked about. The squash match with the Ultimate Warrior that ended his time as champion may be his best known, but this defense in Honky Tonk Man’s Saturday Night Main Event Classic with Randy Savage Has It All. It’s a great combination in its own right, but it’s perhaps known for its cultural significance.
With Randy Savage’s popularity on the rise and his babyface status increasing, Honky Tonk Man could feel the Intercontinental Championship slipping away. He lost the match via disqualification when his allies at the time, The Hart Foundation, entered the ring to defeat Savage and set him up to have Honky smash his guitar over his head. Miss Elizabeth would rush backstage and recruit Hulk Hogan to make the save. The Mega Powers handshake happened shortly after this incidentbut Savage and Honky Tonk Man’s match provided the setting for one of WWE’s most iconic moments.
9
British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels (Saturday Night Main Event, November 8, 1992)
The Heartbreak Kid’s first taste of intercontinental gold.
The British Bulldog’s victory over Bret Hart, who headlined SummerSlam ’92 at Wembley Stadium, is considered one of the most significant title changes of all time. It showed Bret Hart’s ability to headline a WWE PPV in front of a packed stadium and that the Intercontinental Championship got as much public attention as the WWE Championship. But what happened to the Intercontinental belt after that classic moment?
Just nine months after superkicking Marty Jannety through the barbershop window, Shawn Michaels left tag team wrestling for good and scored his first Intercontinental Championship victory. The British Bulldog only had one televised title defense in a disappointing countout victory. This fight has cultural significance as a sliding doors moment for both fighters. Michaels achieved greatness, while The Bulldog never reached the potential he showed that summer.
8
The Perfect Madness vs Ric Flair and Razor Ramon (Survivor Series, November 25, 1992)
An All-Star Tag Team match for all ages.
Of all the opponents he faced in his short time at the company, Ric Flair’s biggest rivalry from his 90s WWE days came with Macho Man Randy Savage. Flair would taunt the hero by saying he had lewd photos of Miss Flair. Elizabeth and he and Savage would bring the house down with their match at WrestleMania 8. They were a perfect fit, even if it seemed like the world really wanted to see Flair and Hulk Hogan on opposite sides of the ring for the first time.
After Flair lost the WWE Title to Savage at their classic Mania, their rivalry would continue throughout the year, with Flair and his executive consultant, Mr Perfect, launching sporadic attacks on the Macho Man. Razor Ramon would join the duo in Savage’s sights. before a Survivor Series tag team match between Ramon and Flair and Savage and a mystery partner. Savage would end up convincing Mr Perfect to stop being Flair’s lackey and have his first match in just over a year. As you would expect with this setup and talent involved, the match is a riot despite its unsatisfactory result with double DQ.
7
Hulk Hogan vs Roddy Piper (The War to Settle the Score, February 18, 1985)
MTV broadcasts professional wrestling to the world
WWE has spent most of its last 40 years existing on its own terms and not needing anyone else to succeed. The War To Settle The Score predates this notion and was one of the most important shows in WWE history. A wrestling extravaganza broadcast on MTV before the first WrestleManiaRoddy Piper and Hulk Hogan would headline the show before their match in the first WrestleMania Main Event. He fused wrestling and pop culture in one of the most meaningful ways of all time.
This match is as much about watching the spectacle as it is about watching Roddy Piper put on a great match against Hulk Hogan. Piper is played in the ring by bagpipes and drummers who flank the ring for his entrance. Hogan’s larger-than-life personality fit perfectly with the colorful and flamboyant pop stars of the time. It was one of the first times the outside world understood pro wrestling en masse, a huge part of WWE’s history and a defining moment in the history of WWE. establishing the company’s motives when it comes to the world of pop culture.
6
Texas Tornado vs Mr Perfect (SummerSlam, August 27, 1990)
One of the best moments of the Von Erich family
Since worldwide acclaim was justifiably raised in The Iron Claw, global interest has never been greater in the Von Erich Family. Mr Perfect is considered one of WWE’s best mid-card wrestlers of any era. He won his first Intercontinental title after winning a tournament for the vacant championship in April 1990, after the Ultimate Warrior unified it with the WWE Championship in his victory over Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 6. Kerry Von Erich debuted just a month before this match.
After a bizarre parasailing injury ruled Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake out of SummerSlam, Texas Tornado was fast-tracked into the Intercontinental Championship match, where he had a sensational match with Mr Perfect. This is a great example of why men this size were establishing their worthproving that they could be just as valuable as the giants of the time (something often credited solely to Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart). Von Erich would win the match and taste WWE gold for the first and only time. He would lose the title to Perfect in November 1990, have a 24-minute run in the 1991 Royal Rumble match, and beat Dino Bravo at WrestleMania 7 before leaving the company in August 1992.
5
The Hart Foundation vs. The Brain Busters (SummerSlam, August 28, 1989)
An influential classic from the late 1980s
Tag teams like FTR and The Outrunners are currently enjoying success with their hard-hitting style that harkens back to the Golden Age of wrestling, and this non-title match is Essential viewing for anyone who enjoys tag team wrestling. WWE Tag Team Champions The Brain Busters were so villainous that they didn’t even have entrance music. The Hart Foundation were enjoying a rise in popularity after spending most of the previous years as heels.
Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart and Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart provide a team wrestling clinic, with Bobby Heenan in top form on behalf of the champions. Heenan’s interference would prove the difference, as he distracted the referee for The Brain Busters to score the victory. At 4:23 p.m., this is the longest match on the entire card, and has a strong claim to being the best match of SummerSlam 89.
4
Hulk Hogan vs. Terry Funk (Saturday Night Main Event, December 19, 1985)
A contrast of styles in this forgotten classic
This battle between hardcore legend Terry Funk and Hulk Hogan feels like a fever dreamand yet it happened on Saturday Night’s Main Event in 1986. It’s a bizarre case overall. Jimmy Hart accompanies Terry Funk to form a very strange duo and Junkyard Dog aligns himself with the Hulkster.
It’s a trip to see Hogan dragged into the trenches by a spit and sawdust fight that couldn’t be further from the 80s Hulk persona that monopolized MTV. The match sees Hogan get the three count over Funk via clothesline in a terrible finish, but it’s worth watching to see a side of Hulk Hogan rarely seen, especially in the 1980s.
3
The Headshrinkers vs. The Steiner Bros (WrestleMania IX, April 4, 1993)
A golden age classic with very modern connotations
The era-defining run of Roman Reigns, The Rock and The Bloodline didn’t just provide gravy for their present and future. The enhanced reputation of the Samoan dynasty only added greater historical significance to its past, the work of Fatu (later Rikishi, father of Jimmy and Jey Uso) and his cousin Samu, son of their manager Afa Anoa’i of The Wild Samoans. The rise of Bron Breakker also saw an increase in interest in the Steiner Bros, making this great viewing for old and new school fans.
The Steiner Bros had only signed with WWE five months prior to this match, after being one of WCW’s most valuable assets in the early 90s. Their moveset’s mix of power and fun moves, such as the Steinerline and Frankensteiner, are at ahead of their time and are the perfect antidote to Samu and Fatu’s timeless physical style. Bron’s father, Rick Steiner, got the win with a top rope bulldog in a victory that would put them on the path to the first of two WWE Tag Team Championship reigns.
2
Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair (Prime Time Wrestling, December 16, 1991)
The heartbreak boy comes of age
Ric Flair arrived in WWE not only as WCW Champion, but as the biggest name not to wrestle for Vince McMahon at that point. But if anything is known about Vince McMahon’s time running the company, it’s that if it didn’t happen in WWE, it didn’t happen at all, and so Flair almost had to build his reputation from scratch in WWE. The opponent chosen to do this was the young Shawn Michaels, then still a tag team wrestler as part of The Rockers.
It’s the kind of game that’s remarkable to view through the lens of history. Michaels demonstrated determination to excel in a match against a famous performer like Flair, and showed a charisma that was unnatural for a tag team wrestler at that time. It’s apparent that Flair thrives on Shawn’s athleticism and tenacity.making his offense seem strong and dynamic while repeatedly begging for his mercy. Flair gets the three count with his feet on the ropes, but Michaels showed enough quality to ensure he would win his first Intercontinental Championship less than a year later.
Fast forward seventeen years and these two would have won Match of the Year with their match at WrestleMania XXIV, which many fans still consider one of the best matches of all time.
1
Bret Hart vs Mr Perfect (King Of The Ring, June 13, 1993)
A classic from the King Of The Ring archive
The prestige of the Intercontinental Championship is something that only stopped being questioned during Gunther’s recent record-breaking championship reign. This is largely due to a lack of time spent developing talent and giving adequate TV time. It could also be argued that the Gilded Age was the only era in which the Intercontinental Championship was as prestigious as the WWE title. Of all the lost classics that make this case, this is perhaps the most forgotten of all.
Raising the bar in their legendary IC title match at SummerSlam 91, Bret Hart and Mr Perfect Curt Hennig battled for a spot in the King Of The Ring final against Bam Bam Bigelow later that night. Hart and Perfect spend over twenty minutes in this technical masterclasssold by the comments as a war that turned whoever won the match into a lamb for the slaughter. Hart would get the win and go on to win the King Of The Ring tournament later that night, but the match with Mr Perfect in the semi-final is the true masterpiece of the night and one of the most underrated gems of WWE’s Golden Era.